


A Dutiful and Loving Wife

by peternurphy



Category: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Genre: F/M, Paranoia, Replicants, Surgery
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-31
Updated: 2020-10-31
Packaged: 2021-03-09 03:08:24
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,166
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27307498
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/peternurphy/pseuds/peternurphy
Summary: Upon returning to Deep Space 9 from Bajor, Keiko finds that her husband has been replaced for a second time.
Relationships: Keiko O'Brien/Miles O'Brien
Comments: 5
Kudos: 12
Collections: Star Trek Halloween Horror Bang 2020





	A Dutiful and Loving Wife

**Author's Note:**

> For the Star Trek Halloween Big Bang!  
> Prompt: "Keiko begins to think that Miles has been replaced, by a shapeshifter perhaps. Her secret suspicions start destroying their relationship."

Story art by: [visigoths](http://visigoths.tumblr.com) on tumblr!

* * *

Keiko had felt vaguely ill on the shuttle back to Deep Space 9. It wasn’t as if she was sick; she could still walk and interact with her fellow travelers as normal. But if she moved too fast, or if it became too loud, the throbbing in her forehead would intensify and she would feel her ribs tightening in around her chest. She hadn’t been space sick in decades, and she didn’t feel any of the nausea or disorientation typical to space sickness. But as Keiko stepped off the shuttle and onto the station, she felt that the sensations would have to go away once she got some proper sleep.

“Keiko!”

She heard her husband’s voice from across the docking port’s antechamber and smiled. Her husband. Sure, her last visit to the station had caused a fight. But they had made up; they had come to an understanding. They were adults, and could communicate with each other like adults. And this time, she had an entire week to spend with her husband. No pressure.

Molly ran ahead of her; Keiko watched Miles pick up her daughter and swing her around. Keiko followed at a slightly slower pace. Her skull still felt too small if she moved too fast. But she leaned into Miles and rested her head on his shoulder when she came to him. “I missed you,” she said against the fabric of his uniform. This uniform must have been new, she thought. Starfleet uniforms were made from a stiff fabric for the sake of durability; those who wore them had to break them in before they became comfortable. Miles would always wear his for ages, making it soft and pliable but threadbare in parts. Before Keiko had left for her work the first time, she had practically begged him to request at least one new uniform. Perhaps he’d finally listened to her.

“I missed you too,” said Miles. He kissed the top of her head. “How was your trip?”

“Better than last time,” said Keiko. It was true; Molly had been well the entire time, which was the most important thing. And despite Keiko’s headaches, she had to admit that the trip was much better for her, too. “Although I could use a painkiller. I wonder if there was something wrong with the gravity,” she mused.

Miles turned to look at her. “Do you need to go to the infirmary?”

“It’s just a headache. I’ll be fine after some sleep.” She smiled. She looked at her husband again; a burst of throbbing hit her brow and she pursed her lips to try and mitigate it. Miles put an arm around her waist.

“We’ll get you home and I’ll take care of you.”  
  
“Doctor O’Brien, to the rescue.”

“Had to learn something from Julian.”

* * *

The walk back to their quarters was uneventful. Miles held Keiko by her waist. Keiko didn’t want to say anything, but this only made it feel like her chest was being pressed further into her. Molly seemed unbothered. She held Miles’ other hand and skipped, chatting with him about the Bajoran kids she had made friends with and Bajoran games they had taught her and all the animals that she had seen. Molly’s voice actually soothed Keiko’s headache; when Miles spoke it came back.

When they reached their quarters, Keiko immediately went to the bedroom and collapsed onto the bed. She stared at the ceiling and let the pulsing of the ceiling’s texture slowly subside in the comparable quiet of the room. She could hear Miles and Molly speaking out in the living room. Miles was asking Molly to tell him more about a Bajoran children’s game and Molly was trying to teach him, though it required four players. Their footsteps echoed around the floor as they tried to take the turns of the non-extant third and fourth players.

Keiko took a few deep breaths before she stood up. Her chest felt light again; she could look at the art on the walls and the pattern of the carpet without her eyes hurting. She opened the door and leaned against the frame to watch them. Molly was happy. Her face was lit with a wide smile and she was running from place to place, excited despite the lack of players and equipment for her game. Miles had to be tired, though he hid that from Molly as he played along. But he was smiling, showing happiness on his face even though he most likely had been working throughout the day. Keiko could imagine that he wanted to lie in bed just as much as she did. But she saw little hesitation as he ran around the room; no difficulty in getting up and down to match the energy of her daughter.

Miles met her eyes when Molly sat down for a break. Keiko smiled at her husband. “It’s getting late,” she said. “It’s far past Molly’s bedtime.” Molly started to protest, but Miles picked her up. Molly had grown at least an inch in the last few months, but Miles didn’t even grunt as he picked her up.

“I know,” he said, as he carried her to her room. Keiko followed close behind. “But don’t you want to get up early so you can see your old friends?” He asked. Molly nodded.

“Can I go to Marto’s in the morning?” She asked.

“Only if you get enough sleep,” Keiko chipped in. Miles gave her a look of gratitude. She stopped just outside of Molly’s room as another burst of pressure shoved her chest inward. Miles set Molly down on her bed.

“We’ll be back in in a few minutes to tuck you in,” he said. He left her there and shut the door. As he walked towards Keiko she found herself stepping backwards until she reached the couch. She reached back to steady herself as she sat down. “Keiko, are you alright?”

She nodded as she lay on the couch. “I told you, there was something wrong with the shuttle. I have a headache.”

As she spoke, she realized that her tone was a bit sharp. It seemed to hit Miles, and he stopped next to the couch. His smile faded. “I don’t want to put pressure on you this time,” he said. “If you just want to spend the week in bed, I’ll take time off and use all my time to take care of you. We don’t have to go out, we don’t have to see anyone-“

“No!” Said Keiko. Though her head still hurt, she sat up. “I’m not mad at you. It really is just a bad headache.” She paused to steady herself as she tried to meet her husband’s eyes. “If it doesn’t go away after a good night’s sleep, I’ll see medical. It really is just me this time.” She smiled at her joke; Miles didn’t.

They looked at each other, wrapped up in the hum of the station around them. Molly studied her husband’s face. She knew he had to be disappointed, and didn’t begrudge him for wearing those feelings on his face. But he didn’t seem completely bothered by the thought of sexless night. They were older now, anyway. Miles especially appreciated sleep more, with how the station kept him working almost constantly. “Come on, smile. I haven’t seen you in ages, and I’d rather see you smiling than scowling.

Miles gave a reluctant smile. He opened his mouth to say something and reached for Keiko when Molly came out of her room with her pajama shirt on backwards. “My sleeve got stuck!” She announced.

If it hadn’t been for Molly, Miles might have seen Keiko flinch away from his hand. But he didn’t; he broke his scowl into a laugh as he went over to fix his daughter’s shirt. Keiko’s stomach tightened. She approached her daughter and ran fingers through her hair. “There’s a hole in the sleeve,” said Keiko, pointing it out. “While we’re here, we should get rid of some of the old clothes you left behind.”

Molly shook her head. Miles took Keiko’s side. “You can’t be going around in torn clothes. They’ll think Keiko’s leaving you out in the wild while she works.”

“I like these!”

“I know you do, but if we get rid of the old things, we can get some new clothes. Doesn’t that sound better?” Asked Miles. It didn’t seem to, for Molly frowned and crossed her arms. “Well, we can talk about it tomorrow. It’s bedtime for you.” He picked her up.

Immediately, Keiko felt the stabbing sensation that started her ribs. As Miles was turned away from her and walking Molly to her bed, Keiko grimaced and bent, holding her chest. The sensation burst out into a shock across all her limbs. Now she wanted to bolt into action – to jump up onto the table, perhaps, to see everything around her. She instead stayed looking down and drew in a deep breath. If it felt like her ribs were stabbing her, perhaps expanding her lungs would make her realize her chest was fine. It helped her chest, but not the need to act. Nonetheless, she unbent herself and looked into the room. Miles hadn’t taken more than three steps.

He set Molly into bed as Keiko followed. “Good night, sweetheart,” he said. Keiko leaned over to kiss Molly on the forehead, echoing his good night.

Though it wasn’t horribly late, they almost immediately retired to their own room. “It’s past _my_ bedtime,” joked Miles. Keiko laughed as she pulled off her dress. All the underwear she brought to Bajor was functional and comfortable, without much thought to how it made her look. Still, Miles looked up at her from the bed. “I’ll never get tired of this,” he said. Keiko ducked her head, embarrassed.

She crawled into bed next to him. “I’m sorry,” she said again.

“Don’t apologize, you’ll make me feel guilty,” said Miles. Keiko had hidden herself under the blanket, so when Miles leaned over to kiss her he had to pull down the blanket from her face. She wanted to pull it back up, but she lay still and let her husband place a gentle kiss on her cheek.

* * *

Keiko did not sleep that night.

Miles fell asleep quickly. She could tell from his snoring – the absence of which had made it hard to sleep when she first started working on Bajor. That night, it didn’t help her. Instead, it formed part of a buzzing, droning soundtrack to her thoughts as she lay still and stared at the ceiling.

The headache was gone. There was no pain, either, there was no urge to jump out of bed like a startled Targ. It was just a restlessness – something that needed to be fixed, that was pressing inside of her head and pushing away any sleep.

The symptoms had started on the shuttle up to Deep Space 9. They had been relatively constant then – changing in intensity, but more or less present the entire way up. The station didn’t make the symptoms as a whole more intense. It was only the fluctuations that grew more severe: taking her from almost no pain in her head to that sense of urgency and pain that flooded her entire body.

Each time she was near Miles.

She rolled over to look at him. She felt nothing bad about him. Seeing him again after so long made her heart happy and put her mind at ease. It was the man she loved and that loved her. Only her body was responding to him like he was a noxious fume; a violent spray of acid coming directly for her.

And so she lay in bed, trying to ease herself into something approaching sleep or rest. And the question _Why Miles?_ returned again and again. And each time, she had no answer.

* * *

“I can’t find anything physically wrong with you,” said Julian. He held his PADD in front of him, at an angle that let Keiko look at the results he had. “The basic tests showed you in excellent health. I didn’t find any indication of an allergic reaction to something, and I ran tests for most toxins found on Bajor. I might guess space sickness, though your symptoms don’t completely match the profile.” He handed the PADD to Keiko, who could parse the medical language enough to see that it matched what Julian said.

“I could run more tests,” he said, “But there’s a good amount of substances we can’t accurately test for yet. Hence your work,” he added, and Keiko gave a slightly begrudging smile. “I have another theory, though…”

Keiko set down the PADD to look at Julian. “Tell me,” she said.

“I want to preface this by saying that this doesn’t negate anything that you’re experiencing right now,” he said. Keiko crossed her arms. “And I will still do everything in my capacity as a medical doctor. But all the tests have come back negative, and with what you’ve said about the symptoms flaring up around Miles… Have you considered this could be psychosomatic?”

Keiko had considered that. “I did,” she said. “Though it doesn’t make sense. This visit is nothing like the last one, I don’t have to worry about not having enough time with my family. And Miles has been wonderful to me from the moment I got to the station. I don’t feel any conflict about loving him, or Molly…” She looked down. Something had caught in the back of her throat. Again, the _why Miles?_ Was she not being unfair to her husband, her wonderful, kind, loyal husband, with these responses?

“It could mean a lot of things,” said Julian. “I’m not a psychologist, but maybe you’ve gotten used to being on Bajor with just Molly and the other scientists. You’re switching between two important parts of your life, and Miles represents – _is_ – a part of your life that you don’t experience as much. Maybe you’ve created a divide in yourself that you’re struggling to resolve right now, and your instinct is to get rid of one part of the split so you can feel whole again.”

He took the PADD and set it aside, then helped Keiko down from the table. “I guess it makes sense,” she said. “But _I_ don’t want to cut out Miles for the sake of my work.”

“That’s why your body is reacting. Maybe it’s that conflict that’s overwhelming you so much that it has to come out this way. I know you talk to Miles frequently enough when you’re on Bajor,” Julian said, and Keiko smiled.

“I’m sure you’ve heard all about it.”

Julian laughed. But he soon took on a neutral expression as he returned to his medical advice. “Have you considered talking to a counselor on Bajor?” He asked. “I’m only proposing a hypothesis when I say this is psychosomatic. But even if this is something else, it’s never a bad idea. Being with Molly away from your husband can’t be easy.”

It made sense. By now, Keiko had friends and a social support network on Bajor, and felt less isolated than she had at her first arrival. But she still missed her husband; talking to Miles on the viewer was nothing like being able to touch and lean on him. And she knew it hit Molly too; she’d had to handle far more tantrums and meltdowns than she ever did when the family was together. “I think that’s a good idea,” Keiko said.

“I’m still going to run more tests on your blood sample,” said Julian. “I might try a few more uncommon toxins, and some tests take more time. I’ll send you all the results when they come.” He said this as Keiko approached the door. “I can also give you something for the headache.”

“Thank you, Julian.” Keiko put on a smile. She watched Julian take a small bottle from a container, and took it from him. She examined it. It was a painkiller that targeted the brain – stronger than the stuff the replicators had for minor aches and injuries, but nothing too heavy. “And you… You won’t be discussing this with Miles, will you? I know, I know, it’s probably best if he finds out. But I don’t want him to find out from someone else.”

Julian blinked. “Well, that’s a violation of doctor-patient confidentiality.”

“But I know how close you are with Miles.”

“I could get barred from practicing medicine,” he said. Keiko’s smile became less forced. Somehow, she doubted Julian would lose the ability to practice medicine. He was always lucky; he could probably find a way around it. But she trusted him enough.

“Thank you. I’m sorry I doubted you.”

* * *

The painkillers worked.

Keiko met Miles for lunch at the Replimat. He didn’t have a long lunch break, but he wanted to spend it with Keiko, and she wanted to see him after that terrible night. And while she still felt uneasy, there was no headache, and the chest pain was easy to ignore. When he asked her about the headaches and seeing Julian, she lied and said that there were signs of a space sickness flareup caused by bad gravity.

“I could go in and look at it myself,” said Miles.

Damn. She had forgotten that that was something he could do when she came up with the fib. “I- you don’t have to do that,” she said. “I go back on a different shuttle. Besides, I don’t want you to get off your duties then go straight to looking at a shuttle’s gravity systems. I want to spend time with you.” She put a hand on his forearm, and her palm started to itch.

“Are you sure? If I find something, I could find out whoever checked the shuttle last and tear them a new one.” Miles’s brow was furrowed; it had been since Keiko mentioned a problem with the gravity. She felt the muscles under his uniform sleeve tensing and untensing. “I mean, you can’t just put _my wife_ on a shuttle that makes her sick.”

Keiko wanted to laugh. If she could have, it would have been gentle and friendly. She would have squeezed his forearm and shook her head. But the laugh never came, and all she could do was shake her head at him. “I don’t want you yelling at some ensign, I want you making dinner with me and playing with Molly.”

“I just don’t like knowing you were hurt.”

“I wasn’t hurt,” said Keiko. She gave that squeeze, though she had to think to press her fingers into Miles’ arm.

“Well, I don’t like that something made you sick.”

She wanted to tell him. It was both of them making her sick – her own anxiety manifesting as physical symptoms whenever she was around him. But how would Miles respond? She had thought through that scenario dozens of times before lunch. He would probably get mad and indignant at first; he wouldn’t understand that she didn’t blame the symptoms on him. He’d either calm down on his own, or she would go to Julian and have him explain it. Miles would probably agree with therapy, and find a way to finagle his schedule – more trips to Bajor, more conversations through the display screens.

But would Miles ever really believe it wasn’t his fault? She could imagine it being the other way around. If Miles one day felt sick because of her, would she ever be able to stop thinking and wondering about it?

“The painkillers are helping,” she said. “I don’t want you to worry about this. Promise me you’ll stop worrying?”

Miles glanced down. “I can’t not worry,” he said. But he sighed and looked back up at her. “I won’t make a fuss about it so long as you don’t get sicker.”

Keiko smiled and moved to squeeze his hand. “I’ll try not to.”

* * *

Miles kept his word. When he returned home from work he didn’t talk about the ship or the gravity. The only mention he made of Keiko’s symptoms was to occasionally ask her if she needed anything – water, a back rub, to sit down. Each time she said no, and felt something inside her twinge. She loved him; he really did love her. He wanted to help her, even though Keiko kept insisting she was fine.

When Molly had went to bed and they sat together with drinks (real whiskey for Miles, synthehol wine for Keiko) and talked about work. Miles complained about some new ensigns; Keiko gushed about a new plant species she had found. With the synthehol and with the conversation, she was able to forget her discomfort and enjoy the time with her husband.

But they got tired, and the whiskey was hitting Miles, and they had to go to bed. Miles was too drunk to be interested in sex, for which Keiko was grateful. He kissed her sloppily when they were in bed and she let him, closing her eyes and trying to enjoy it. They exchanged “I love you”s before lying in bed. Miles fell asleep in seconds. Keiko, again, lay staring at the ceiling.

She loved Miles. When she wasn’t around him, she wanted to be with him. She thought about the things he did for her, all the ways she had felt around him before this return trip, about how good of a father he was to Molly. Those thoughts remained as memories when she was with him, but then she would look at him and feel like she needed to run. She’d never felt this way around Miles before.

But she had felt this way before.

Not exactly the same. But there had been one time where she had seen someone that was supposed to be her husband in their quarters and known it wasn’t him; had been faced with the conflict between someone she recognized and that knowledge that it was a replicant. Sure, she had been told this wasn’t Miles at that time – but shouldn’t a wife be able to tell these things about her husband?

She turned onto her side and studied him. It looked exactly like Miles, down to the fine lines on his face that showed his age and his stress. Each hair was in place; a few more were gray than the last time she had seen him. If this was another replicant, then the creators had done a good job.

But what could she do about it? If her hunch was right, she would have to tell the rest of the crew. Her first thought was Julian; she then remembered that Julian hadn’t been able to tell the last time. She could still ask him if Miles had been acting different lately. The last replicant had all Miles’ memories, but that had backfired – so maybe this version would at least know it wasn’t Miles, and what job it had to do.

It snored and she curled her lip. It still mimicked Miles so well. She was in bed with something that had every physical characteristic of her husband. It knew everything that Miles did – from the layout of Deep Space 9, to Miles’ childhood, to everything that he’d done with her. It could even convince Molly that it was her father. She had ran to him that evening when they reached the quarters, talking about her day and her friends on the station. Why didn’t Molly feel it the way Keiko did?

She turned away from him. She couldn’t look at that thing in the shape of her husband anymore. She hated hearing it – but she couldn’t let on anymore that something was wrong. If Keiko wanted to solve this – if she wanted to see her real husband – if she wanted to keep Molly safe – she had to convince the replicant her problem really was space sickness. She had to sleep next to it, she had to kiss it, she had to tell it she loved it. The thought of sex entered her mind; that was something she would find a way to avoid. But in everything else, she would act as if this really was the man she loved. That way, she could have Miles back.

* * *

Captain Sisko had reduced Miles’ schedule so he could spend more time with his wife. But the chief engineer was always needed at some point, and he would remain on call eight hour each day, with a few hours every other day where he would show up and supervise other engineers. Keiko didn’t mind this, even under normal circumstances. She had other friends on the station, and she didn’t want her husband behind on his work. Under these circumstances, Keiko was grateful. Miles was called shortly after they had taken Molly to another playdate; this meant that Keiko could spend time researching.

She returned to their quarters after doing her best to respond correctly to a goodbye kiss. She sat with a cup of raktajino and began by asking the computer for any records of the incident with the first replicant. When prompted for credentials she gave Miles’. Part of her wondered if this was okay for her to do – but then, it was a hell of a lot better than the replicant knowing everything Miles did.

The first replicant had been an android base, with Miles’ DNA used to construct the covering and Miles’ memories used in its programming. It had sincerely believed that it was the real Miles O’Brien, to the point of deciding that it was Starfleet who had been replaced. It was Paradan in origin – but they wouldn’t try the same tactic twice, would they?

Keiko hummed as she thought. No, it couldn’t be the Paradans again. But they probably hadn’t lost the DNA and memory info, which, of such a high-ranking Starfleet officer, would probably fetch a high price. Maybe a different controller would try a different tactic. She had felt bad for the first replicant once she’d learned exactly what had happened.

Now to find more information on replicants. Julian’s medical examinations hadn’t revealed the replicant, but a more thorough autopsy revealed the android skeleton. She studied it on the screen in front of her. Much of it looked to be a very fine mesh, woven between replicated muscle fiber and tendons. The brain had apparently been able to fake enough functionality to fool the scanners, but hid a computer system that did the actual work of controlling the replicant.

But otherwise, she still had no smoking gun. The Paradan replicant had been expert work; Starfleet only knew it wasn’t Miles because somebody had told them ahead of time. On the other hand, Keiko hadn’t felt the difference between that Miles and her Miles as viscerally as she did now. Maybe this one was sloppier. From what she read, it seemed that creating a replicant was intricate and finicky work. The Paradan government had resources to make theirs perfect; but even another similarly resourced government could easily make a mistake.

She sighed. She leaned back and held the now-empty cup between her hands as she ordered the computer to delete the record of her past activity. She was going to bring this to Starfleet – but she wanted to do it herself, and she definitely didn’t want ‘Miles’ to know what she had been looking at. For now, though, she had to go about her life on the station. She didn’t want to be asked why she was hiding in her quarters all morning. She left the cup on the table and left to go make her visitations.

* * *

She ate lunch with a Bajoran officer who had once had a child at Keiko’s school. The kid was now living back on Bajor with their grandparents; Keiko had actually met up with the officer when the officer came to visit her child. They ate at the Replimat. Though this was a vacation for Keiko, the only food on the station she looked forward to was Captain Sisko’s. They were planning to have dinner with some other officers at Ben’s in a few nights, though Keiko planned to speak to him privately as soon as possible.

The officer had to return to work after their lunch; Miles – or the replicant, thought Keiko -found Keiko outside the Replimat and proposed a walk on the Promenade. Keiko wasn’t about to say no; she took another pain pill before agreeing that it sounded like a great idea. “We’ll get dinner at the Bolian place,” the thing that looked like Miles proposed. The atmosphere and food of the Klingon place would have been better, thought Keiko, as it would take her attention away from trying to unmask the replicant with her eyes. But that would be too suspicious; and Keiko was known for maintaining that Bolian food was much better than it sounded.

“Do you have any other plans?” He asked. Keiko thought. She didn’t have any in particular. There were a few friends she had contacted before arriving, but Miles being replaced took precedence over social plans.  
  
“I might see if Valiss is free. She told me about a holosuite drama that she thought I would like. But there’s nothing set in stone.” She looked up at the replicant. When she faked her smile she made sure to narrow her eyes and give a small shrug, and pull herself closer by squeezing its waist. He squeezed her back, and it felt like the hand was pressing inside of her body.

“I shouldn’t have anything. I made sure to give those cadets from earlier a good talking to for taking me away from my wife. I don’t think they’ll be making any more mistakes any time soon,” said the replicant. “So if Valiss doesn’t want you tonight, maybe we could go in a holosuite together,” he suggested.

So maybe she wouldn’t be seeing Sisko that night. “The Orient Express?” She asked.

“Orient Express, or, there’s that Laurentio massage…”

Keiko stopped. Sex. She knew Miles didn’t need it from her; if the replicant was any good it knew that as well. But how would she keep herself from sleeping with the replicant before it was revealed, without letting it on that she knew? “I kept missing doing mysteries with you, though,” she improvised. “And I haven’t been to the holosuites in forever. Laurentio later this week?”

“Hey, Orient Express is fine!” It laughed, and it sounded exactly like Miles’ laugh. They kept walking along the Promenade. It spoke at length about Julian – their favorite holosuites, their games of darts, Julian’s drunk musings. Keiko wanted to stay reticent; that would be suspicious, so she talked about the least sensitive aspects of her work. Most of what she said was available in the higher level botany textbooks, but neither Miles nor the replicant with his knowledge wouldn know that. And eventually he had a short meeting he had to go to, and she was free. It just took one kiss on the cheek to get away.

She found that she was close to one of the turbolifts. Miles’ meeting wasn’t going to be in Ops; if anyone asked she could say she wanted to talk to Sisko about the dinner party. Most of the crew in Ops were working, anyway – Jadzia looked up to wave at her, but that was the most interaction Keiko had.

Commander Sisko was in his office as well. She felt bad for blindsiding him, but the door was open, and he did smile when he saw her in the entryway to the office. “Keiko,” he said, putting down a PADD that he had been looking at. “I didn’t expect to see you.”

“I’m sorry to come in unannounced,” said Keiko.

“Not at all. Is there something you need?”

She sat at the chair in front of his desk. “I need to talk to you about Miles,” she said. Sisko’s smile faltered. “It’s not what you think,” she started. “Although it’s probably a lot worse.”

“What’s wrong?”

Keiko looked down at the desk. It made so much sense in her head – it had to be the reason she was having all the feelings. But now, in front of the person who could help her, the words were stuck in her throat. “It’s going to sound crazy,” she started. She took a deep breath and looked just to the side of Sisko’s head. His stare was always too intense. “I don’t think the Miles on this spaceship is actually Miles.”

Her heart was pounding, but when Sisko nodded, she felt relief wash over her. “Do you mean another replicant?”  
  
“Yes!” Said Keiko – a bit louder than she intended. “I- yes, I think it’s another replicant. I… don’t see any reason for it to be the Paradans again, but they could have sold the pattern they used. It just doesn’t feel like him. I know it’s not the same as having proof, but everything about him feels _wrong_. I look at him and I just feel sick – my head pounds and I feel like I need to fight him, or to get away. Every time I see him with Molly it gets so much worse. I love Miles – I know that this isn’t _him._ ”

For a few seconds, Sisko said nothing, and Keiko felt her heartrate rise again. “I can’t do anything without proof,” he said, and Keiko stared down at his desk. He didn’t believe her. “But I’ll set up an investigation.” He stood and looked out the window into the stars that dotted the space surrounding them. “That being said, I think you should make sure there is nothing else that you’re missing.”

“I visited Julian yesterday,” said Keiko.

“And?”

“He couldn’t find anything wrong with me. He’s still running tests, but nothing has come up positive.”

Sisko continued looking out into space. “I’ll keep you updated on the investigation,” he said. She could see his face in the reflection of the window. He wore a grim expression now. She could only hope it was because he took the news about Miles seriously, and not a response to her.

“Thank you, Commander,” said Keiko, as she stood. “I just want my husband back.”

“I understand how you feel.”

Of course he did. She exhaled slowly. Sisko was somebody she could trust. He had been married; he had lost his wife. If anybody could sympathize with how she felt when she knew her husband just wasn’t there, it had to be him. “I’ll let you get back to your work,” she said.

“Do you feel safe living with him?” Asked Sisko.

Keiko stopped at the doorway. “I…” Her voice faltered. She didn’t feel safe. She didn’t feel like Molly was safe, either. “It would be suspicious if I suddenly started keeping away from him. And I wouldn’t be able to explain to Molly why she suddenly couldn’t see daddy anymore. That might make it… do something bad, ahead of time.”

Sisko said nothing. He simply nodded as he looked out the window. “Thank you again,” said Keiko, as she left his office.

* * *

She had time before her dinner plans with Miles, and she didn’t see him on the Promenade, so she decided to go to the Replimat for a cup of raktajino. Then on her way she passed Quark’s and eyed it. It was loud; Quark was always a pain to deal with, but it was so hard to think in there that maybe it would help calm her down. And she could get something to take the edge off before she had to get dinner with the replicant.

She sat at the bar. Quark was away, talking to some other customer, and she tapped her fingers on the bar. Keiko was typically one to stay away from real alcohol unless it was something special. But the situation qualified as something ‘special’ – albeit negatively so. She settled on her order as Quark approached her.

“Single-malt whiskey. Neat, please.” In honor of Miles, she thought. Quark bent to take a bottle from under the bar. As Keiko had expected, his mouth was twisted into a lewd smile as he returned up to pour her drink.

“Trouble in paradise?”

Keiko took the glass and wrapped her hands around it as if it was a cup of tea. It was cold against her palms. “It’s none of your business, Quark.”

“I can’t ask my customers a question? It’s early, and you never come here.” He leans in, the smile widening so she could see far too many of his teeth. “Unless you came to see me, instead. I won’t tell.”

Keiko raised the glass to her lips and sipped. She couldn’t stop herself from screwing up her face in response to the burn of the whiskey. If Miles had been there, he would have laughed at her and finished the glass for her, she mused. She set the glass down and looked at Quark. “Yes, Quark. I spent all my time on Bajor just dreaming about you. I’m here to confess my undying passion.”

“I knew it. Females always do,” he said. He shook his head. “Well. If you ever get bored of Miles, you’ll know where to find me.”

“You’re delusional.”

Quark shrugged. “Deny it all you want. Like I said – all females do.”

Keiko took another big swig, and couldn’t stop herself from loudly exhaling. Even on her breath she could taste the whiskey. She saw Quark open his mouth to make some other comment, but before he could speak she heard from behind her:

“Leave her alone, Quark, she didn’t come here for you to leer at.”

“Our passion doesn’t concern you, doctor.”

Keiko finished her drink. She stood up and looked at Julian, cursing. She had had a feeling that Quark might talk, that the news might reach replicant-Miles, but she could always convince him that Quark was lying. Julian, on the other hand, was a lot more trustworthy. “Can we talk?” She asked.

“Of course, what-”

She walked past him, her eyes on a table in the back corner of the bar. There were people around, but the noise was such that she didn’t feel like she had to worry about somebody listening in. She sat with her back to the wall. Even this early, the bar was crowded enough that it was hard to keep track of everyone. But anyone who saw them would just see Keiko catching up with her husband’s new friend. What would be weird about that?

Julian did look concerned though. “Are you sure you should be drinking?” He started. “I haven’t gotten any new positives, but I would seriously advise against it until we know what the problem Is for sure.”

“I shouldn’t,” said Keiko, “But I know what’s wrong. It’s not space sickness, and it’s not a toxin.”

Julian said nothing. She felt him studying her face, and she wished that she had another glass of whiskey, even though her head was already beginning to feel light. “Do you remember when Miles was replaced by the replicant?” She asked.

“Of course I do,” said Julian, though he looked confused.

“It’s happening again. I know it is. I’m not responding to conflicting feelings about him, I’m responding to the fact that it’s not him. It’s not my husband, it’s something that’s looking and acting like him for…” Keiko sighed. “I don’t know. I don’t know what it wants. But I know it’s not Miles. I’m his wife. I can tell these things.”

Slowly, Julian nodded. “When do you think this happened?” He asked, and Keiko couldn’t help but roll her eyes at him.

“I don’t know – I wouldn’t be able to know. I just know that I came back and something was wrong, and it took until today to piece together what it was.” She looked at him. “Aren’t you his close friend? Did you notice anything?”

Julian said nothing. Keiko pursed her lips as she looked at him. Why wasn’t he answering her? He had to have noticed something – she knew Julian was smart, she knew he was perceptive enough to pick up the differences. “Julian?”

“Hm?”

“Did you notice anything?”

Julian glanced away from her. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I was thinking. There’s nothing that comes to mind – no change that I ever noticed.”

“Nothing?”

“Do you have any proof?”

Keiko studied him. Julian had to have seen something. The scanners couldn’t pick up a replicant, and the recreation of Miles’ features was near perfect. But no replicant could perfectly recreate those interpersonal relationships and interactions. “I’m working on it,” she said – being careful not to say something one way or the other. “Are you sure you haven’t noticed anything? There hasn’t been anything strange about Miles recently?”

Julian shook his friend. “I haven’t noticed anything. Keiko, I think you should be careful.” He reached towards her; Keiko pulled her hands back and watched him. “I have to get back to work. I’ll treat everything you said as confidential, but I think you should try to rest and take care of yourself. And I would advise against any further drinking.”

He stood from the table, and Keiko stayed seated. She knew if she tried to stand she would stumble, and she needed Julian to see her as stable. “Thank you, Julian,” she said, pushing the uncertainty from her voice. Julian gave a “be safe” before he left the bar. Keiko sat with her palms on the table and thought.

Sisko had been willing to listen to her. Sisko was not someone who would go along with a baseless conspiracy. Sisko trusted the intuition of a loving wife. Maybe Julian just didn’t have the experience to understand how Keiko could know these things. The drinking probably didn’t do her any favors, either. But he had seemed so uneasy – unwilling to continue the conversation, unwilling to really look back at his recent memories of Miles. Did Julian just not want to consider that his friend had been replaced?

Or did he already know?

* * *

When it was time for dinner, Keiko felt a bit more sober. However, she had a headache that stayed after a cup of coffee and several glasses of water. She arrived at the restaurant before the replicant did and sat with a cold, sweet Bolian drink that cut at least a little bit through her malaise. Her headache was about to subside when she saw it enter the restaurant and felt her blood rushing around behind her eyes again.

But she didn’t show it. She grinned, making sure to crinkle her eyes and sit up. She even gave a little wave, which it met with a wide smile. “You would not believe how dense these new cadets are,” it said as it sat in the chair across from her. “I swear I told them twenty times now not to mess around with any of the modules I labeled with my initials, and what’s the first thing that they break?”

“One of your projects?”

It threw its hands up. “What do I do, Keiko?”

“Maybe we should bring back the lash,” Keiko suggested, and the false Miles muttered in agreement. As the waiter approached he ordered a Bolian drink – lightly alcoholic, and nothing like Keiko’s whiskey from earlier. She sipped her own drink and watched it. She listened in as it went in on more problems with the cadets and the new engineers. She could bring this information to Sisko – what the replicant was learning about the station and about these newer crewmates. And she would tell Miles as well. She could imagine seeing her husband’s face when he found out that his wife had been the one to notice the plot, and how proud he would be that she remembered every piece of his work that the replicant had likely sabotaged.

This wasn’t easy, though. As much as Keiko had always tried to be attentive when her husband talked about work, she wasn’t an engineer, and she’d never worked on the guts of a space station. Half the things the replicant was talking about were utterly unfamiliar to her, and all she could do was try to remember specific words, or the locations that the replicant mentioned. At least it would give Miles something to work with upon his return.

“So I had to go into security and make poor Odo take down all of the prison fields to fix the shoddy work Judt did, when Odo had just arrested two Klingons for brawling at Quarks. He had to spend all that time watching them while I tried to explain Gauss – introductory material! – to the cadets. And I think the Klingons could tell how dumb they were too.” It took a long swig of the drink, and Keiko reached to rest her hand on its arm. Security – she could remember that one, at least.

And then, again, the replicant went back into the details. Some sort of combination of electromagnets, light particles, and radiation made the fields, but the particulars were lost on her. But she focused her attention on him, leaving the menu neglected in front of her. And when the waiter came over to take their orders, they were both caught off guard. Keiko remembered a favorite dish at the last second; the replicant took a few moments to scan over the menu.

“I need to get my mind off this,” it said after being cut off from its rant. “Tell me about your day. Did you visit with anyone?”

“Nothing too exciting,” she lied. “Talked to a few friends, and walked around a bit. Visited the old school.”

“Dax said you came up to Ops to talk with Captain Sisko.”

“Yeah, I had some questions about the dinner. I wasn’t sure if it would be a good idea to bring Molly or not.”

“Oh, bring her! Just for a little bit, I’d like her to meet some of the officers.”

Keiko wasn’t sure, though, and gave her argument. For a moment, it felt like she was just bickering with her husband again. She lost sight of the replicant; when she remembered that it wasn’t Miles she was talking to she felt a pressure deep inside of her chest. It was a twofold sensation: the same sensation as before, where her blood started pounding and her head felt like it would burst and her legs shook as if begging her to stand up and run from the restaurant, but beneath that there was another – a pain and a sadness that sat at her very center. As it hit her she looked down – mumbling that Molly could come.

The thing looked at her and reached across to put a hand on her shoulder. The muscles there all tensed at once. “Look, we don’t have to bring Molly,” it said. All of Keiko’s torso was trying to pull back, as if there was a magnet behind her. But she held herself still. “Keiko, is there something wrong? You know you can tell me.”

“I know, Miles,” she said. Despite her best efforts, her voice carried an edge. She reached up to put her hands on the replicant’s – first to remove it, but they rested there, to seem like there was no anger and no problem. “I just want this to be an easy visit, and I’m still sick. I don’t want any more stress.” It was too late for that, of course.

“I’m sorry, Keiko.” Its voice sounded just like her husband’s. It was so sincere, and so kind. Keiko’s throat closed up. “I don’t want you to be stressed about anything either.” Its other hand squeezed her shoulder. “You’re so tense. Don’t they have spas on Bajor?”

She mumbled an answer. Then her savior, the Bolian waiter, returned. In truth, she didn’t particularly want to eat anything – but she feigned enthusiasm over her food. “Maybe I’m just hungry,” she said. “I haven’t eaten since lunch, and that was hours ago.” She looked up. Maybe she could keep trying to probe him – just not about the station. “What did you do for lunch?”

“Me? I just grabbed something from a replicator,” it said. “I barely remember, I was too focused on a docking array repair.”

“You don’t remember?” Asked Keiko. She looked at it, and the shoulders fell.

“Alright, I skipped lunch.”

Keiko couldn’t help but smile. This was something. Miles was never so calm and understanding when he hadn’t eaten in a while. Her husband would be much more prone to arguing on an empty stomach. “Miles!” She scolded. “You can’t skip meals. It’ll make your work sloppy.” It mumbled something in response. “Really, you go on about how bad all your poor cadets are, but you don’t even take the time to take care of yourself.”

It mimicked Miles’ smile perfectly at her, and Keiko couldn’t help but shiver. “I’m lucky, you know,” it said. She narrowed her eyes. “To have a wife that cares enough to scold me into eating.”

“Oh, stop.” Keiko pushed the hand away. Finally, it was off of her, and she felt a tingling where it had been. “Well, eat now. I don’t want you getting grumpy.”

After the first few bites of food, Keiko found it wasn’t too hard to eat. Her body still felt tensed and poised to act, but she continued to push food into her mouth and swallow it, and she could feel her hunger (which she’d barely noticed before) being sated. The replicant talked more between his bites. It moved on from the day’s work to the time he’d been spending with Julian, some stories from Quark’s, and the various happenings of the station. Keiko tried to piece together at timeline – all of these would have to be things that happened after the replicant arrived. But the replicant was clever enough not to be specific about dates and times, and Keiko didn’t know enough about life on the station to be able to place an exact time.

But she resigned herself to listening. It was for Miles. It would give him one thing to feel happy about once he got back, after whatever he was experiencing. Her chest ached again. Was he being tortured for more information? In some prison cell somewhere?

Had they killed him?

* * *

The following morning, Keiko noticed a new message someone had left for her. She checked it – Sisko had something for her. Her lip twitched as she looked at the message on the computer, while the replicant sat nearby with a cup of coffee.

“What’s that smile about?”

She quickly shut off the screen. Keiko looked up at her false husband; she kept her smile. “We got some new results last night,” she lied. “Vati isolated some proteins from a species we were looking at, and it turned out they were the same proteins from the Moba plant.” This wasn’t a lie; it was something that they’d discovered early in their research.

“So they’re related?” It asked, and Keiko couldn’t stop herself from explaining it. It listened – surprisingly well for it being so early, and for the coffee being unfinished. She lost steam on her explanation midway through. As much as it annoyed her when Miles zoned out while she talked, it was what he would do in this situation. Her husband wouldn’t be able to listen to her this well.

Eventually, though, Miles was called for some repairs. Keiko went back to the computer and opened the message.

Keiko:  
I ran an investigation into Miles’ history since you left. I didn’t find anything suspicious, and there was no time when he could have been replaced by a Replicant. I don’t think we will find any proof. Are you sure that what your feeling means this isn’t Miles? Has Dr. Bashir returned any more results to you?

She shut the computer off. She sat still in the chair and stared into the wall. She tapped her fingers into the tabletop and felt the vibrations all through her fingers. “Sisko knows,” she said to herself. He knew. Something had happened while Keiko was on Bajor; Sisko had to have access to that information. He knew, and he was hiding it from her. The only option was to take this further up to Starfleet, and to gather her own evidence.

* * *

Miles was going to have Julian over for dinner and drinks. This was a plan that they had made days before Keiko’s arrival; now Keiko cursed her past self for having invited Julian. It would have been nice if Miles were Miles and Julian were honest and not beholden to some conspiracy. As she pulled fluid from one of her plants with a syringe, she thought about what things could have been.

The replicant was in the kitchen, preparing a casserole. Keiko had been helping him, but mid chopping she’d smacked herself in the forehead and looked at him. How stupid of her! She’d forgotten to tend to her plants this morning!

There were two compounds she needed. One, she had extracted directly from a few small berries. It was more than enough to incapacitate a human, but it wouldn’t cause that much damage. She’d leave it in a glass for Julian if he came by, but she’d sent a message telling Julian that they needed an extra hour or so to prepare. If all went well, Keiko wouldn’t need too long to get what she needed from the replicant. She hoped he wouldn’t come by early, but maybe he would take his drink from the table while he waited.

The second was more complicated. It included the same toxin that would take out a person, but Keiko needed something that would react with the replicant part of this false Miles’ body. She had researched the chemical structure of a standard replicant’s mesh “skeleton” and the electrical system that let it interact with the muscle cells. Eventually, she found a mixture of compounds her plants could produce, though it wasn’t the most stable mixture. She would have to act fast.

She tucked the vial of Julian’s drug into her pocket. The replicant’s, she loaded into a hypospray which she hid under her sleeve. “My plants are fine,” she announced as she came back into the kitchen.

“I’m glad,” it said, and he turned to face her. Keiko opened her arms for a hug; it accepted. She drew the hypospray from her sleeve and pressed it into the back of his neck. She felt the body begin to tense, then relax. It mumbled her name in confusion before its body slumped out of her arms and collapsed onto the floor.

Keiko set the hypospray aside and took the drinks out to the living room. She emptied Julian’s vial into one glass, then took the other two and emptied them into the sink. There were enough dishes there already that the empty glasses wouldn’t stand out.

Then she turned to the body on the floor. The bathroom wouldn’t be too far; she still struggled to drag him out of the room. The replicant was far heavier than her; after just a few feet she felt exhausted. But she stayed on, even as she made it into the bathroom and then had to maneuver him into the tub. She crouched and pulled him up by the legs first, getting them into the tub. She pushed the rest of the body up and over the wall of the tub until it fell in, arms strewn to the side.

She returned to her plant room. Her examination kit was already out and ready; she took it with her back into the bathroom. She just had to find something that would be part of a replicant and not a human body. The muscle mesh was too fine to take a proper sample of herself, but Starfleet would have the resources to isolate it. She moved him to pull off his shirt, and cut away fabric with scissors where she needed. She then lifted his arm.

Keiko held her breath. Even with plants, this was never easy for her. When she had had to take a core sample from a tree for the first time, her hands had been shaking so hard she could barely push it in. Now, however, as she sliced into the upper arm with a scalpel, her hands were perfectly still.

She knew it would still bleed. It still surprised her a bit when the first beads of blood formed and rolled down his arm. But she persisted and pushed the blade further in until she passed the layer of whitish fat and reached enough muscle for a decent sample. She pulled out her scalpel to make the second cut, arcing around deeper and deeper to create a neat sliver of flesh. Then she had to angle the blade down; feeling through the resistance of the muscle until the blade moved easily. With a pair of tweezers, she took the sample and placed it into a small container.

Keiko’s plant dissection tools didn’t contain anything that would close the wound, or stem the flow of blood. She didn’t need to – it was just a replicant, not her husband. But she couldn’t stop herself from cutting a piece of fabric from Miles’ uniform and tying it tightly around the wound. It was only seconds before the blood soaked into it and began dripping down the torn fabric, but it was better than seeing the gaping cut.

The next part would be far worse, though. She pulled the body up so that he would have been sitting up against the wall. His head slumped down; Keiko frowned. She left her work in the tub and found his worktable against the wall in the living room. Miles liked to use older devices sometimes, she knew. She looked through the drawers, fumbling through various tools and objects she didn’t recognize until she came across what she wanted: a thick roll of silver tape. She wore it around her wrist back into the bathroom.

With her teeth, she cut a long strip of tape from the roll. She took a fistful of hair to hold the head up and pressed the tape up against the mouth. She pressed both sides of the tape against the wall; the head was now held in place by its tape gag. Now she could hold her tree corer against his skull. She set the depth small – all she needed was a hole through the bone so she could get to his brain.

The corer buzzed as it ground through the synthesized human bone. A mixture of bone dust and blood and flesh melted by the heat of the rotating corer accumulated around the hole. After Keiko removed the corer from the replicant’s forehead, she wet a cloth in the sink and wiped it away. She could not see into the hole that she made, and Keiko decided that was a blessing. It wasn’t Miles, she knew that, but she didn’t want to look at the brain matter inside of a thing that looked so much like her husband.

She pulled the wrapper from a long metal wire and held it against the hole. Somehow, this felt worse than slicing. it wasn’t Miles. It wasn’t even a human, or any truly living thing. But she had to clench her fist and push her nails into her palm as she probed the wire into the hole and felt it begin to penetrate brain matter. Fake brain matter, but it was grown to be as close to human brain as possible, and Keiko wouldn’t be able to distinguish it even if she could see it. Eventually she would have to find a chip, but all that she could find was the back of the skull.

She left it in place as she thought. She had wanted to do minimal damage. On the off chance it wasn’t a replicant, she didn’t want to do too much damage. Starfleet had to be able to capture and interrogate it. But she wouldn’t be able to find a chip by probing through one single little hole, either. With a deep breath, she turned on the saw.

The hole in the forehead would be a good place to start. It was just big enough to insert the tip of the saw without damaging the delicate material behind the bone. She controlled her breath – it was paramount that she kept her hands steady while she began to press it into the bone. Again, there was that horrible grinding noise, and the slurry of flesh and bone dust returned to drip down over his eyebrow. Some of it sprayed out; Keiko winced when something wet landed on her cheek.

She steadied herself to keep pushing the saw around. When she reached his temple the saw slipped out and began misting something dark red onto the bathroom wall and onto Keiko’s face. She quickly turned it off. She had only cut a few inches. How long would it take to get through the entire head? What would happen when she had to cut through the back?

But it was for Miles. Her discomfort, her disgust at these fluids that were leaking out onto this thing’s head and that stained her skin were nothing compared to whatever her husband had to be going through. This unpleasant task was for him, and for Molly – and what sort of wife would Keiko be if she didn’t make these sacrifices?

It was the angle that was the problem. She stepped into the tub and straddled the thing’s pelvis. She avoided making too much contact between their bodies and settled on a squatting position. The saw whirred back to life; Keiko inserted it in the edge of the last clean cut. “For my husband,” she said to herself.

The noise of the saw cut through any other sounds in the quarters. She thought she heard something – somebody calling out to her, to Miles. For the first time in the entire examination, her hand began to shake. Was she truly losing it? What was the stress of having her husband replaced with a replicant doing to her? With her free hand, she held fast on her wrist and continued to cut.

“Keiko!”

Keiko’s hands shook again. It was getting louder. “It’s for Miles,” she said again through her gritted teeth, answering the voice. But when she saw a figure in the very edge of her vision, she found that it hadn’t been a hallucination. It was Julian Bashir, standing in the doorway of the bathroom. His phaser was pointed at her.

“Keiko, turn off the saw.”

She did. But she left it in place and kept her hand on it as she turned to look at Julian. “I know you know,” she said.

“Know what?” Asked Julian. Keiko said nothing. She didn’t have to answer him when he already knew. Their eyes remained locked on each other as Keiko waited for him to admit what he knew. “Keiko, what are you _doing?_ ”

“You know what I’m doing. You know why I’m doing it. And you know this isn’t my husband.” She held the saw in place. “If you try anything I’ll destroy your tool. Tell me where my husband is.” Her thumb rubbed the switch.

Julian stepped towards her. “Keiko, you’re not well,” he said. “I promise I don’t know anything about any replicant. But that _is_ your husband. It’s Miles, I promise.”

“Don’t lie to me!” Keiko’s hand shook on the saw. “I’m his wife – I know better than _you_ what my husband is and isn’t! This is something else! It’s a replicant, it’s a _thing_ -“ Her hand slipped off of the saw with how much it was shaking. She turned to him. How could he help to take her husband from her? What kind of friend was he to Miles that he would stop Keiko from saving her husband’s life? She opened her mouth.

And a jolt hit her in the chest, and she felt the wall against her back, and she lost all sensation.

* * *

Miles entered the bedroom with a plate of casserole and a cup of tea. Keiko lay staring at the ceiling. After hours of unconsciousness then treatment, she had been let out from medical, and she felt drained and heavy.

“Miles, I’m sorry,” she said as she took the mug from him. He sat next to her; as he put his arm around her shoulders she noticed he was moving slowly. Tentatively. But he turned to kiss her on the cheek and pull her closer to him.

“I don’t blame you,” he said. “It was a reaction. Julian explained it to me.”

Julian had told her once she had come to in the medbay. One of the plants they had recently discovered was a common allergen for Bajorans, and this was something both she and Julian knew. It didn’t have the same effect on humans – she had worked on it for weeks without realizing. She had assumed that humans had no reaction to it. Julian had found an inflammation in her brain, however, and an accumulation of pollen in that very region.

Luckily, it was easy enough to treat, though the medications that would decrease the inflammation and let her metabolize the pollen had significant side effects. She had an extra two weeks on the station to recover; Miles had more time off to spend with her. She could be with her husband – the man next to her, whose body was warm and soft and held hers against him. Even more fortunately, her memories of what had happened in their bathroom were hazy. It hurt her to linger even on those vague memories of cutting into her husband like some kind of specimen.

“I’m still sorry,” she said. She pressed her head into his chest and he ran his fingers through her hair. “I really thought you were a replicant. I wanted to save you, I…”

“I know,” said Miles. “You thought you were doing the right thing. Your brain was on fire – you didn’t have any sense.”

Against him, Keiko nodded. She turned her head up to meet his eyes. The bandage stretching from the center of his forehead to his temple was still there; she wanted it to disappear every time she looked away. “At least I get more time with you,” she said, forcing her face into a weak smile. Miles smiled back at her.

“Not the best circumstances,” he admitted. He took a sip of his own drink. “But maybe it’s a blessing in disguise. We both get time to recover in peace. No work or anything.” Miles placed a kiss on her forehead. Then for a moment he leaned aside, and he placed the now-empty glass that had been meant for Julian on their nightstand. ­­­­


End file.
